Process of and apparatus for the production of dense metal castings



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' 0;. M. PIELSTIGKER & F O. G. MULLER. PROCESS OF AND A'PPARATUSFOR THE PRODUGTION 0F DEN-SE Q METAL GASTINGS.

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' PATENT I OFF CE; 7 f

cam. MARIA PIELSTICKEILOF Loxnoxiaztonaxn, AND rninnnrci'r c. G.

)IiT'LLnn, OF nnaxnnxnuno, rnUssIA, GERMANY,

' PRQCESS DF AND APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DENSE METAL CASTINGS.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,223, dated d'anuary 1, 1824'. i Application filed July; 1983. (So model.) 7 'Q i To all 107mm it may concern g Be it known that; we, CARL ItIAniA Pint.- STICKER and Fnnznmcn C. G. )I'ILLEn, subjects of the Emperor of Germany, residing, respectively, at London, in the county of Middlesex and Kingdom of England, and at Brandenbu-rg-on-the -Havel, in the Kingdom of Prussia and Empire of Germany. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Production of Dense Metal Castings and in Apparatus Connected Therewith; and we, do hereby declare that the following'is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will, enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains-to make and use the same, This invention relates to an improved process of eliminating the occluded gases in steel and in other metal castings, which, if not separated, renderthe castings, on cooling, more or less'porous; and it consists in efl'ect-ing this separation by subjecting the molten metal to the action of centrifugal force under exclusion of air, using the'apparatus hereinaflerdescribed, and forming part of this invention, or any other apparatus in which centrifugal force is used for this purpose, producing by this means not onlya most minute division of the particles of molten metal, which state is the most favorable to theclimination of the occlnded gases, but in one modification of our apparatnsa vacuum is "formed atthe same time and in consequence of the centrifugal action, which greatly assistsin etfectingthe pur-' pose that; we have. in view.

On the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section through a centrifuge construeted according to the first-part of our invention, and Fig. 2 is a similar view of modispecification.

fication described in the latter part of this The centrifuge used in this' process, and as shown in Fig. 1 of the" accompanying drawings, consists of a wrought-ironv shell, A, having the for-m of a cylinder, closed at. the bottom and open at; the top, say eighteen inches in height; and three feet in diameter, or more,

refractory material.

in proportion, orit may be entirely molded of This shell we propose to make with a rim, lhprojecting from the open top toward thc'outside, say, eighteen inches in ,at a point where the outer shell enters the bearvvidth. The shell and rim are throughoutwell lined with a refractory material, which may be ganister or basic in nature. The shell is to rest: on it's closed bottom C, and in the center of it on a solid wrought-iron shaft, D, to which it:

is well fastened and riveted on its outer circumference. This shaft, we propose to make. say, three feet in height, and it is to rest; on its lower conical-shaped end, E, in a step or bearing, F, in a heavy iron or steel plate, G, so as to easily turn on its point. About one foot above its lower end or pivot we fasten a driving-pub ley, T, which is to be connected by means of a belt or otherwise with-the motive power, or roto the iron shell, the same may be surrounded with a water-jacket. of suitable construction,

which may be operated-in any well-known manner. The hot water runs out continually ingsin which it rotates, as described further on,

"t-ary motion may be given by means of a pair of bevel-wheels. In order to insure a longer life which is furnished with one or more PQI'fOIfi'.

tions,whiel1are continued through the brick work for the outflow of the hot water. The whole of this centrifuge is builtinto solid refract-orybrick-workHinthefollowingmauner: Commencing from the ground, we build up the bricks so as to leave an opening for the driving-bc1t:-,or the driving-shaft connected with the pair of bevel-wheels, to pass through. A bearing of metal, Isay twelve to eighteen inches highiueloscs the vertical shaft: on which the shell rests just:- above the pulley or bevel-wheel in which the shaft is to turn air- 8 tight. The brick-workis built up allaronnd the shell, leaving a space of, say, one inclibetween it and the outside of the shell, so-asnot totouchfor interfere with the shell atv any point or in any way when rotatin The brick isbuilt up till aboutone inch undcrt l ie?pro'- ject'ing' rim of the 'shell and underitsjivliolc width, and then deepens into a channel,"-K,"fabout eighteen inches deep and one foot; wide,

all around the circumference of the projecting rim of the shell. The brick-work'then'rises again to a height; of, say, six inches, and afoot wide on its whole cireumferenee,-and built up solid from the ground. The whole apparatus and hriek-work is closed on the top by aioo wronghtiron cover, L,;sl ightly conveir toward g the outside or otherwise,which may belined inside with refractory materials, and which rests on the top of the brick-work, to which it is fastencdandbolted so'as to be air-tight, In the center of the covcrahole islit-say two inches in diameter-which carries a funnel, M, lined with refractorymateriahand'from which a pipe or tube, N, made entirely of a refractory material,,reaehes some distance into the interior of the shell of the'centrifuge. Another hole, 7

O, of similar dimensions, is likewise left in the cover, between the center and its circumference, which hole is to be conuectedwith an exhauster or aspimtor for removing the atmospheric air from the inside of the apparatus at the beginning of an Operation and to draw off the gases as soon asthey areseparated from t the molten metal; or, instead of an exhauster,

'a-blast of a neutral gas may be introduced at from the outside of the circular channel, and

an outlet provided for at the cover of the apparatus as, for instance, at O.

In working our process we proceed as follows: The inside of the'apparatus is first of all brought to an elevated temperature by means metal, on arriving atthe bottom of the shell A, is at once driven with great force by centrifugal force toward the sides of the shell and lays itself in athin sheet against them, and

gradually, as the centrifuge revolves, creeping up on the sides, it overflows the broad rim B and runs into the channel K of the brickwork, as dcscribed,'tl1e molten metal being thrown with great foree against the outer circumference of this circular channel, from whence it is drawn off in a continuous stream through an opening and pipe, B, protruding from it, left for the purpose. Theinflow of the molten metal is regulated by the outflow, and both are to be controlled by the speed with whichthe centrifuge is made to revolve. Only so much molten metal is to be constantly poured inLus will almost instantaneously be caused to overflow into the circular channelr The faster the apparatus rotates the quicker this overflow will take place, and therefore the quicker the molten metal may be poured in.

'The operation being continuous, the whole apparatus may be of moderate dimensions. We .wish itto be understood that we doJnot confine ourselves to this one form of eentrif age and apparatus only, our invention being based upon the act-ion of centrifugal force for the purpose of eliminating gases from molten met.-

' gonnai 1 al, whatever the form of the centrifugal apparatus may be, whether its sides be solid or per fomted, or whether it be merely a. disk or table rotating at high velocity under exclusion 4 of atmospheric air, onto which the molten metal runs, and from which it is thrown off by centrifugal force t "ainst the outer side of tion. \Ve propose to constructit in the following manner:

The vertical shaft D, as above mentioned, carries on its upper end an iron circular table or disk, C, well lined with refractory material H. Across its diameter we place andwell fasten a radially-perforated disk, S, which may be easily exchanged for a new onewheu used up, and is also made of refractory material; This disk is furnished with one or more radial perforations, U, running through its entire length. A funnel, M, is placed accurately into the center of tlie'disk, and communicates at its lower outlet, N, with the radial perforations U of the disk S, it being particularly observed that the section of the outlet of the funnel is smaller than the sections of the radial perforations in the disk taken together.

In working the apparatus, care is taken to keep the funnel M constantly filled with molten netal'up to a certain extent, so that the-out let Nis quite tilled and no atmospheric air may be drawn in. On the table Cbeing set to rotate with great velocity, a sucking action is produced at the outward openings, V, of the radial channels U of the disk S, in couse- A quence of which a vacuum is formed at the ccnterX of the radial channels U. The streams of molten metal passing-through the radial per-- forations U are broken up, and the occluded gases are separated therefrom in the form of small bubblcsand enabled to escape, The molten metal, on escaping at the outward openings, V,oftheradialchannelsUonthclikecircumter- 'enee of the rotating'table,-is thrown with great force against the outward circumference of the surrounding circular channel K of the brickwork, broken up or atomiied, and any gases, Y which may still have been occluded in the molten metal, are here finally set free and eliminated.

be filled directly usual casting-ladle.

The whole apparatus may be made movable,- and, on account of its moderate height, may

from the converter or the,

The disk S can be brought to the required temperature by introducing a. gas and air blast through the funnel M and from the sides.

of the circular channel at P, giving an outlet for the products of combustion and gases by.

means of the opening 0 in the cover L of the apparatus; With a rotating table of, say, twenty-four inches diameter, four revolutions a second are suflicient.

The whole apparatus may be'made a movable one, and instead of building up the brickwork from the ground, which carries the circular channel, the latter may rest on an iron bottom plate, G, and be carried on four or more iron columns, Z.

We are aware that it is not new to submit molten metal in a finely-divided condition to the action of a vacuum for the purpose of eliminating its gases, and we therefore do not claim the same broadly, our invention consisting in the special method and means herein described and claimed.

Having fully described our invention, what we desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is 1. The herein-described process of elimi-' ten metal against the inner wall thereof, and e at the same time maintaining a partial vacuum therein by the action of the centrifuge.

3. A device for atomizing molten metal by centrifugal action, which consists of a centrally-pivoted receiver provided with means for being mechanically rotated, and supported within an air-tight bearing, a chamber inclos- 4o ing said receiver and formed with an annular circumferential trough having inlet and outlet passages, and a funnel extending from the exterior to the interior of the receiver, as set forth.

4:. A device for atomizing molten metal by centrifugal action, which consists of a centrally-pivot-ed dish-shaped receiver provided with means for being mechanically rotated, and supported Within an air-tight bearing, a chamber inclosing said receiver and formed with an annular circumferential trough having inlet and outlet passages, and a funnel extending from the exterior to below the edges of the dish-shaped receiver, as set forth.

5. The herein-described apparatus, consisting in the combination of a rotating shell, A, with the surrounding circular channel K, a cover, L, and the funnel M, resting in the center of said cover, by means of which funnel the molten metal introduced into the shell A is, by means of centrifugal action and under exclusion of air, thrown against the sides of the circular channel K, and thereby atomized and the gases set free, as described.

CARL MARIA PIELSTICKER. FRIEDRICH G. G. MULLER.

7 AUGUST EIME. 

